A Different Approach to Strategic Planning Using Appreciative Inquiry

The interview describes the integration of Appreciative Inquiry (AI) into the strategic planning cycle at Medicine Hat College. Appreciative Inquiry can play a powerful role in initiating and managing change through the process of asking generative questions. AI increases the possibility of introducing successful and transformative change at all levels within an organization. The interview was conducted in December 2015 by Innovations in Practice Editor Jennifer Easter.

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.21083/partnership.v11i1.3391

Appreciative Inquiry as leadership and driving organizational change


Driving and managing change processes will be leaders who are convinced there are better approaches, who are willing to learn and who truly believe in the power of the positive. Appreciative Leadership, which grows out of the appreciative tradition, is “unique among leadership theories both past and present” through its focus on “strengths-based practice,” and the “search for the best in people and organizations” as a way to create “organizational innovation and transformation” (Orr & Cleveland-Innes, 2015). This paper discusses how Appreciative Inquiry and Appreciative Leadership can be used to surface organizational hopes and dreams, create community, and build the future world we want to live in, where libraries are widely understood as essential services creating strong and resilient learning communities.

From the American, P3: The Independent Voter in the US Presidential Race

Once a month, or every couple weeks, I compile my reading and thinking about the US Presidential race. Here is the third installment of From the American. The next couple are going to be on whether or not voters are fools, how Trump seems to be immune to political gaffs, and a personal reflection on Hillary.

High impact educational practices: A closer look

On April 15, 2016, I was part of the organizing committee and presenter at Medicine Hat College's Liberal Education Symposium: Tensions and Possibilities in Liberal Education. Here are the slides with lecture notes from this 20 minute talk. The highlight for me was that much of my talk reinforced and jumped off from Dr. Jim Zimmer's keynote. Another highlight was Dr. Karim's Dharamsi's question about whether or not high impact practices represent a better approach to doing a bad thing. I've thought a lot about his question since then, and I am reminded of Nietzsche's observation that humanity has no goal. What kind of citizen are we hoping leaves our doors? The citizen who donates to the food bank? The citizen who understands the complexities of food security and works within the existing power structures for a more equitable state? Or the revolutionary who suggests that poverty and hunger are issues of justice and morality and that this unjust state of affairs should no longer exist, that what is needed is structural transformation?

I'm not sure, but one thing does seem certain: traditional democratic values seem to getting lost, and along with them, the idea that education's ultimate objective is to support democracy by the cultivation of citizenship.

From the American, Part 1: James Madison's Worst Nightmare

Here is the first political column I wrote for the Medicine Hat News.  My "vision" for the series is some "retro-punditry," back to a time when people actually listened to one another and engaged in civil dialogue and lived by the motto, "I disagree with what you have to say, but I'll defend to the death your right to say it." I know there was no Golden Age, but there was a time when it wasn't quite like this.

AI - Session Evaluation Feedback

I got the results back from the Appreciative Inquiry session I did with Dr. Denise Henning at the Board Leadership of Southeast Alberta conference on March 12, 2016. It was a great session and tons of fun. The best indicators that it was a great session was that attendees wanted more: more resources and more time.

Library Advocacy 101

As my time as President of the Library Association of Alberta rapidly comes to a close, I had the opportunity to speak with some respected colleagues about strategies and tactics of library advocacy. It was a short presentation on what we had done in terms of membership engagement and provincial advocacy during the course of my Vice-Presidency/Presidency (2014-2016), as well as some valuable library advocacy resources.

Generating Positive Change with Appreciative Inquiry

Generating Positive Change with Appreciative Inquiry

One of the things I love to do is work with people and organizations through the strategic planning process. David Cooperrider believed that strategic planning was one of the most creative times in an organization's life because it called for elevated thought and action, and that it was a time to recreate connections across a system.  At the recent SE Board Leaders of Alberta Conference (file below), i had the delightful fortune to present with Dr. Denise Henning on the underlying principles and processes of AI. Appreciative Inquiry (AI) is an unapologetic search for the best in people, and it is a powerful tool for re-framing problems and creating positive organizational change. This interactive session covered the philosophy and practices of AI, including the 4-D cycle (and its permutations), SOAR (Strengths, Opportunities, Aspirations, and Results), and practical tips for how to facilitate AI sessions with teams. I'm so excited to do this again at the Alberta Library Conference coming up at the end of April, and I am considering how to incorporate AI into my doctoral dissertation.

PS. Would like to thank Andrea Woods, colleague, friend, and talented photographer from Woods photography, for assisting with the slides.